


chamomile and cat fur

by laughinghyena



Category: Ushio to Tora | Ushio and Tora
Genre: Dreams, Fluff, Interspecies, M/M, Sleeping Together, wtf do i tag this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 07:20:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6844651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laughinghyena/pseuds/laughinghyena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ushio finds a new trick to make the bad dreams go away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	chamomile and cat fur

**Author's Note:**

> Not my best work by far. This started as a conglomeration of ideas I cobbled together from memory after just losing my old laptop with all my prompts saved, which killed a lot of my motivation. This is my attempt to get back into the swing of things.  
> Sorry if it's a bit all over the place and a bit rambling! Bah, it's too late for me to be barfing out half-baked fic, but I am.

The Beast Spear was reduced to a million shards. Hakumen’s looming teeth waited eagerly, having already rended the fragile bodies of every person -- and monster -- that Ushio had come to hold dear. 

They were closing around him… slowly... relishing the pain and the fear and the utter sense of defeat-- until the boy’s eyes flashed open and he woke with a start, heaving and glistening with cold sweat.

Another sleepless night, again interrupted by nightmares, would drag by with sluggish thoughts that thrum to the rhythm of cicadas outdoors. _ Bhhhr. Bhhhr.  _ They cried in indignation every time the boy shifted to one side, then to the other, tossing himself listlessly on his mat and casting the covers aside with restless feet. His body was exhausted and begged for rest, a strenuous day of using the Spear having pulled his muscles taut and sore, but his mind refused to follow suit-- he’d had too much time to think things over, slipping into the spiral of paranoia and fear. 

His dreams had gotten to the point where he’d followed some of his father’s outrageous, homeopathic advice-- a small pouch of dried chamomile tucked beneath his pillow. It would bring good dreams and ward away lesser evils, Shigure had said-- with Ushio turned his nose up to but begrudgingly took the pouch anyways. It sat next to his mat, shoved behind some comic books and empty cans. Desperate for any solution, he groped through the rubbish until his fingers brushed the silky pouch. Not hesitating any time to look at it or resent it, he stuffed it unceremoniously under his pillow and squeezed his eyes tightly shut, hoping there was any grain of truth to what his father claimed.

***

It was balmy, fragrant with the sweetness of midsummer. The moon may have well dethroned the sun; this particularly clear night, it’s light was nearly as sufficient. A robust shadow laid draped on the roof above his human partner’s head-- reluctantly thinking about the connotations of that word.  _ Partner. _ What makes a partner…? It had to be more than association alone. It was a bond. Was it that Tora felt a drive to protect? Was it that he had begun to side with the brazen youth, even if he was the bearer of the Spear? Galloping alongside Ushio, using his fighting ability for... a purpose, forging a mutual trust and a motive to keep striving... was that it... ? 

They’ve come a long way since their first encounter and the days that ensued, Tora having curbed most of his habits of keeping his teeth at Ushio’s throat and the same for the Spear being waved in his face in retaliation… the idea that he actually enjoyed Ushio’s company made the demon shift on his perch, unwilling to prod too deeply into such sensitive topics. He was bound by obligation, and that was that -- or so he made it sound -- and anything was better than continuing to stagnate in a dusty basement. 

_ Had it not been for Ushio… _ the tiger let his thoughts trail to a halt, and stretched back into a resting position. Had it not been for Ushio, he wouldn’t be able to feel the midnight breeze ruffling his fur and splay his limbs out wide to meticulously stretch each claw until satisfaction. Eyes half lidded, he rested his chin on his hands and ambled back into indolent thought. Humans had changed so much since the last time period Tora had seen the light of day, yet teenage boys seemed the same as ever. What was Ushio’s life like before? What would it have been like, had he not found the Spear? Surely somebody else may have wandered along, eventually… But Tora was satisfied that whatever powers that be happened to bring Ushio along at the time they did. After all, Ushio made everything a little less boring-- even at the cost of Tora’s favorite snacks. He had a purpose now, as embittering as it might be to admit that it was a human. 

***

Hours had passed and temperatures had dropped. The constellations had made a full arc in the heaven above, wordlessly marking the hours as past midnight. A slight drizzle fell as if the raindrops were the stars themselves. A pretty sight, and a calming, rhythmic pitter-patter on the roof of the shrineboy’s home, but too wet to be very comfortable. Raising his damp head, aroused from his dreamless sleep, he disdainfully slipped down the roof, a fluid shadow. There was no need to open the doors or the windows, as Tora could phase effortlessly through solid walls when he so wished. He needed not to worry about where he stepped-- the floorplan of this house he already knew like the back of his hand, and his destination was clear.

Massive as his paws were, they made not a single sound as Tora padded to Ushio’s bedroom. Peering in through the doorway, he could see that youth was fast asleep, spreadeagled and messy in his mound of pillows and blankets on the floor as usual. The mat itself wasn’t luxurious, nor was Ushio’s sprawling position, but the felid settled down with ease, curling his great body in a near circle around his companion. At first, he tried to keep as much physical distance as possible while still soaking up the human warmth, but these attempts were futile. Soft skin brushed against auburn fur, and Tora’s chest would touch Ushio’s back with every breath, and Tora settled his blunt maw on the top of Ushio’s head, the familiar smell and sound of his heartbeat guiding him to sleep. 

In the moments before his thoughts faded into a welcoming black, Tora wrinkled his nose, as the scent of something sweet wafted over him. Was it… chamomile? _ Whatever _ . 

Their closeness was unique-- all the centuries that Tora had lived, never with another human being were his touches either so intimately gentle or intimately violent. Framed in this brief moment, however; monster holding hunter dear, while both entirely defenseless in one another’s unconscious presence, they were the image of contradictory peace. A wave of content washed over the beast-- he was, purely and truly, happy.

***

In his dreams, Ushio was being embraced-- deeply and warmly by a steely and stubborn love. It took an oh-so familiar shape and a recognizable face, although much softer than the teeth and claws he saw on a daily basis. There was no need to wonder nor to be surprised-- in his subconscious mind, everything felt at ease. At last, if only for just a night, the violent images that had spattered his mind’s eye in red were held at bay.

By dawn, when the birds sung and Ushio’s eyes reluctantly blinked open to the morning’s light, Tora was nothing but an impression in the bed, a few orange furs, and memories of a strange but comforting dream. Ushio noticed none but the latter, and while he debated whether he should tell Tora or not, realized that it had been his first good rest in ages. 

Maybe the chamomile really  _ did  _ work. 


End file.
